MBDA PAAMS

PAAMS, the Principal Anti-Air Missile System, is a joint programme of France, Italy and the United Kingdom for an integrated anti-aircraft warfare system built around the Aster 15 and Aster 30 missiles. Its prime contractor is EUROPAAMS, a joint venture between Eurosam and UKAMS, in which MBDA and Thales take part, and in the United Kingdom it carries the name Sea Viper, which the Royal Navy gave the British configuration in 2009. The system equips the Horizon class frigates in French and Italian service and the British Type 45 destroyers, where it defends the ships against missiles that approach singly or in salvos and can control many missiles in the air at once. The programme grew out of the tri-national Common New Generation Frigate project, which Britain left in 1999 in favour of its own Type 45 design.